Electro-Voice S-200
A two-way PA box with a factory-molded cabinet and a companion EQ that reaches almost an octave lower than the speaker manages on its own.
Overview
Electro-Voice built the S-200 as a full-range PA speaker cabinet - a 12-inch two-way box that shows up in listings as a "Stage/Wedge Monitor," an "Unpowered Speaker," and a "Full-Range PA Speaker Cabinet," depending on who's selling it. It's passive and wired, black, and rated at 80-18000Hz (-3dB). That's a serviceable range for a small-format reinforcement speaker, but it's not a subwoofer by any stretch. The most interesting part of the S-200 isn't the speaker. It's the equalizer designed to sit between the mixer and the power amp and pull the low end down.
The "S-200" name covers at least two distinct Electro-Voice products, and mixing them up is the fastest way to get confused about what you're buying. There's the S-200 Stage Speaker system, a cabinet. And there's the S-200 Equalizer, a two-channel active unit that EV's own documentation describes as "designed to be used with the Model S-200 Stage Speaker system as an option." It wasn't a general-purpose rack EQ that happened to share a model number. It was built for this speaker, to work on the cabinet's low-frequency response.
Per the owner's manual, the equalizer has a step-down mode that extends the system's low-frequency limit by almost one octave, from 90 Hz to 50 Hz, and adds four decibels of efficiency. Four dB is not a rounding error. It's roughly the difference between a power amp that's loafing and one that's working.
The two products turn up together in listings - one DALAUDIO LLC page offers an "Electro-voice EV S-200 Sound Reinforcement System w Equalizer" as a bundle - and separately on eBay and Craigslist, where the EQ shows up on its own.
Key Features
Two-Way, 12-Inch Driver
The S-200 is a two-way design built around a 12-inch woofer. That's the classic small-format PA recipe: big enough to move some air, small enough for one person to carry, and simple enough that there's not much to go wrong. A 12-inch cone in a two-way box is a compromise by definition. The crossover has to land somewhere the woofer can still be clean and the horn can take over without a hole in the middle.
One-Piece Molded Cabinet
The cabinet is described as a "one piece cabinet, utilizing a special molding technique applied to speaker enclosures only by Electro-Voice." That's manufacturer copy, and nobody else's marketing department was going to write it. The claim itself is the interesting part. A one-piece molded enclosure means no seams to buzz and no joints to loosen, unlike a screwed-and-glued plywood box after years of road use. Whether the molding technique actually delivered on that is a question the surviving documentation doesn't answer.
80–18000Hz Response
The rating is 80 Hz to 18 kHz, -3dB. That tells you what this speaker is for: full-range program material at moderate levels, not deep bass. It'll handle vocals and mid-heavy instruments, and it'll do a credible job on a small combo or a DJ set in a bar-sized room. It's not going to shake the floor on its own. That's why the equalizer exists.
The S-200 Equalizer: One Octave Down, Four dB Up
The companion equalizer is a two-channel active device. With the speakers switched into their equalized (step-down) mode, the low-frequency response limit drops by almost one octave, from 90 Hz to 50 Hz, and the system gains four decibels of efficiency. The manual is direct about what this buys you: a speaker system that would otherwise need to be crossed over well above a subwoofer can carry the bottom end itself.
Input and Output Connections
Rack Mounting and Ground Isolation
Collectibility & Value
This is a working tool, not a collector's piece, and the market treats it that way. Listings turn up on eBay, Craigslist, Guitar Center's used section, and DALAUDIO LLC, usually as singles rather than pairs. Back Market's refurbished listing explicitly notes "NoSold as Pair," which matters if you're trying to assemble a matched set. A "£318.52" figure appears near an "Electro-Voice EV Stage 200 Speaker" listing, but that may be a different model entirely and shouldn't be taken as an S-200 price.
Condition notes from sellers are consistent and unexciting: "scuffed used condition but work perfectly well," "some cosmetic wear but overall pretty good," and one seller reporting the system was tested and found to be in very good operating condition. No functional faults, no known failure modes, and no repair or service information turned up in any source. Back Market's refurbished listing carries a 12-month warranty and 30-day returns, the most concrete buyer protection available on the used market for this model.
The Audiofanzine page for the S-200 hosts 130 images and two user reviews, but the review text itself wasn't captured in the available research, so there's no substantive owner commentary on sound quality to report. If you're considering one, the practical advice is the obvious one: confirm which half of the S-200 name you're buying, and if it's the speaker, ask whether the equalizer comes with it — because the speaker without the EQ is a perfectly good 80–18000Hz box, and the speaker with the EQ is a meaningfully different proposition.
Similar items on eBay
No exact Electro-Voice EV) S200 listings are live right now — these searches show current Electro-Voice and similar vintage audio gear on eBay:
As an eBay Partner, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support our independent vintage technology research.